I love to try new recipes. I find many of them on the Internet and I usually read many of the reviews before I try one. It has never ceased to amaze me, how one recipe can raise so many different opinions from various cooks. One person thinks the recipe is the best he or she has ever had…and the next person threw the entire concoction in the trash! Just goes to show that we are all different with a variety of likes and dislikes.
Some of the recipes I have tried over the years, have received rave reviews from my husband. Other recipes though, have made him make this declaration, “You don’t need to make this again.” In other words, that is his way of saying that I can dispose of that recipe. Oh well…you win some and you lose some!
There is one thing though that it doesn’t matter what recipe I try (and I have tried many of them) I just can’t make successfully. I’ve even tried recipes that have the words “No Fail” in the title…but I still manage to make it fail. No matter what I do or how hard I try…I can’t make a pie crust to save my life.
Because of this, I bought my pie crusts for years and I’ve just always kept a supply of them on hand. But when I ran out of them some time ago, I decided that surely after all these years, I could be successful in making my own. So the search began, once again, for a recipe that I could master. I wish I could tell you that I was finally victorious…but I wasn’t. It didn’t matter what recipe I tried, even if it had great reviews, mine was awful.
Boy I was frustrated. For pete’s sake…it’s not rocket science…it’s just a pie crust. Lots of my friends make great crust; why in the world can’t I? I consider myself a fairly decent cook, so if I can follow lots of other recipes and they turn out fine, what is different with this? What is wrong with me that is keeping me from making this simple crust?
I was whining about this to my husband, telling him how I felt like such a failure and he said, “Oh well…you are good at a lot of other things”. Simple statement…powerful words. At that moment I realized I was doing something that I have taught we should never do. I was comparing a weakness of mine to other peoples' strengths…and I guarantee you that I will lose every time I do that.
Now I realize that a pie crust is a pretty minor thing in life, but I know I’ve done this comparison game before. Why can’t I sing like she can? Why don’t I have athletic ability like they have? Why does my metabolism run like a turtle but hers seems to run like a cheetah? Yep, I could go on and on.
I wonder how often I make Jesus sad because I wish I was someone else, instead of being thankful that I was created to be me. I was made, with my strengths and weaknesses, to bring glory to Him and that isn’t possible if I’m whining and complaining. Yes, I have weaknesses that I can work on improving, but I think there are times when He wants us to use our weaknesses to help others. Sometimes, people need to see our shortcomings, to realize that Jesus can use everyone to touch the lives of others. Sometimes others need to see that we are human…definitely not perfect…and through our imperfections He can bring beauty.
I don’t know what your weaknesses are, but I hope you aren’t dwelling on them today wishing you were someone else. You, my friend, were created in God’s image and He loves you just the way you are. Can He help you improve in some areas? Of course He can. But He is much more interested in you having a willing spirit to be used for Him regardless of what you see as your imperfections.
So, this is fair warning that if you eat a piece of pie made by me…it won’t include a crust made by me. But, trust me on this, you should consider that a blessing!
“So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
In the image of God he created them;
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